Schumacher’s engineer reveals those responsible for Hamilton’s failure at Ferrari

Former Ferrari engineer Luigi Mazzola shared his thoughts on the difficult season Lewis Hamilton spent with the Maranello team.

The seven-time world champion had an unsuccessful 2025 season, failing to earn a single podium and finishing only sixth in the championship individual competition. Ferrari once again went winless and Hamilton lost 86 points to teammate Charles Leclerc.

The SF-25 was extremely unstable, preventing Hamilton or Leclerc from competing for Grand Prix victories on a regular basis.

In addition, Hamilton had difficulty communicating with key members of the team throughout the season, particularly race engineer Riccardo Adami. However, Adami has already been confirmed as Hamilton’s race engineer for the 2026 season.

Mazzola, who previously worked as Michael Schumacher’s race engineer, emphasized that it would be unfair to put all the responsibility for the season’s failure on Hamilton.

“I don’t put all the blame on Hamilton. I can’t say ‘it’s all your fault, you ruined everything’. No, a significant part of the responsibility lies with the team,” Mazzola said in a comment.

In 24 races, it is impossible not to fully understand how the driver controls the car or to give him a stable running car.

When a pilot gets into a vehicle he cannot control, he isolates himself and tries to find peace. This is what surprises me. “I don’t blame the race engineer, who is under a lot of pressure, because I don’t know how free he is to decide on the car settings,” the Italian driver said. he said.

After a disastrous 2025 season, Hamilton has high hopes for the new technical regulations that will come into force in Formula 1 from 2026.

The rule change is expected to allow Ferrari to take a big step forward and Hamilton to receive a new generation car that will better suit his driving style.

During the so-called ground effect era, Hamilton achieved just two victories in four seasons; A modest performance for one of the most successful drivers in history.

During his career, the British driver won a total of 105 Grand Prix – this is a record – and became a seven-time world champion, sharing first place in the history of Formula 1 in this indicator. Hamilton now hopes to add Ferrari, the most successful team in the championship’s history, to his championship collection.